THE FISHES OF NEW JERSEY. 297 



Pomotis aureus Abbott, Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 807. 



Hupomotis aureus Jordan, An. N. Y. Acad. Sci., I, 1879, p. 98. 



Family PERCIDiE. 



The Perches. 



Body more or less elongate, terete or compressed. Mouth 

 terminal or inferior, small or large. Premaxillaries protractile 

 or not. Maxillaries large or small, without distinct supplemental 

 bone. Jaws, vomer and palatines with bands of teeth which are 

 usually villiform, but sometimes mixed with canines. Occas- 

 ionally teeth on vomer or palatines are absent. Preopercle en- 

 tire or serrate. Opercles usually ending in a flat spine. Gills 4, 

 a slit behind fourth. Gill-membranes free or connected, not 

 joined to isthmus. Gill-rakers slender, toothed. Pseudobranchise 

 small, or glandular and concealed, or altogether wanting. 

 Branchiostegals 6 or 7. Lower pharyngeals separate, with sharp 

 teeth. Air-vessel small and adherent, often entirely wanting. 

 Pyloric coeca few. Vertebrae 30 to 48, always more than 10, 

 13 to 25 in precaudal portion. Body covered more or less com- 

 pletely with rather small ctenoid adherent scales. Lateral line 

 usually present, not extending on caudal fin. Head naked, or 

 more or less scaly. Preopercle entire or serrate. Fins generally 

 large. Dorsals 2, first of VI to XV spines. Anal fin with I to II 

 spines, usually latter. Caudal lunate, truncate or rounded. Pec- 

 toral often very large. Ventral I, 5, thoracic. Anal papilla 

 usually more or less developed. 



Fresh-water fishes of the temperate zone, several attaining 

 some size and of value as food-fishes. 



Key to the genera. 



a. Percin^. Pseudobranchise well developed; preopercle serrate; no canines. 



PERCA 



aa. Etheostomatix.?:. Pseudobranchiae imperfect or wanting; preopercle 

 entire. 

 b. Parietal region of skull rather depressed, not strongly convex in 

 transverse section ; /— N-shaped in section. percina 



bb. Parietal region of skull rather depressed, more or less strongly con- 

 vex in cross-section, thus O 



c. Cranium broad between eyes; snout projecting. boleosoma 



cc. Cranium narrow ; snout not much protruded. boleichthys 



